Posted: 4/28/2013 9:29:18 PM EDT
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Hello everyone! Just posting here to kind of get some pointers, ask about anything I should be aware of, or anything else that may be good/bad/ugly about moving to OK from MO. I just accepted a Mechanical Engineering job in south central Oklahoma and will be moving there the end of next month/beginning of June. I've lived here in Missouri most of my life (aside from about a year in Louisiana) and was curious what I can expect. Particular interest in gun laws (of course) but also just general stuff - taxes, vehicle registration, etc. I know that the alcohol laws there are way more strict, but I'm not a huge drinker, so it's not a huge deal.
So - what can I expect and what hoops (if any) do I need to jump through? |
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Fairly gun friendly state. Permit to carry open or concealed.
Any idea on the area you will be locating yourself? That would help a lot with details. I live in a town called Chickasha that is about halfway between Lawton and OKC. It is customary for new individuals to the forum to provide a case of ammo to the first person to request it. I will settle for two 550 round boxes of .22LR 
Good guys here. We have fun on this board and help each other. ETA... Registration is not too high for cars, no inspection stickers. |
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Welcome. Let us know the area you'll be in and we can give you more information. I've been in this state
all my life. Born and raised in Enid (northern OK) moved to Tulsa for a few years, then to OKC. I'm now in the little town of Tuttle and been here for 20 years. There are a few ranges around, Tri-City and OKC Gun Club. |
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Thanks for the welcome. As for the area - the job is in Duncan, but not 100% sure where the wife and I are going to move to yet. Somewhere within 20 min drive of Duncan would be fine with me. She's the picky one when it comes to location/ house.
As for the ammunition - just as soon as I can find any I will let you know. That is of course after I get my reserves back up. I always assumed it was the custom to bring gifts to the new neighbor, not the other way around. But hey, I'd be in for helping someone burn through a couple bricks of 22. |
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There's not much within 20 minutes of Duncan.  Yea, I kinda figured that - which means plenty of wide open land. Realistically, my wife and I are both from small towns, so we kind of like the rural feel. I grew up in a town of 900, and my wife in a town of 2,600. My parents now live out in the sticks and are 11 miles from the closest grocery store. Both the wife and myself kind of like smaller town living. My wife said she wouldn't mind living out of town a bit, as long as it is a couple of miles to the nearest town with a grocery store & gas station. I'm concerned if we live out of town, she won't like all the critters that come with living outside of a town. Living in Duncan, Marlow, or even west of Duncan toward Lawton isn't out of the question. On a side note - if anyone is from that area and knows anyone who does rentals and wouldn't mind sharing the info - that would be awesome. My wife and I will be renting for the first couple of years while I get student loans paid off and we work on a down payment for a house. Also - interesting note - I found out yesterday that my stepfather has some relatives in the Duncan area. I've never met any of them, but just proves that its a small world. |
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Also - interesting note - I found out yesterday that my stepfather has some relatives in the Duncan area. I've never met any of them, but just proves that its a small world. It's too small for that gripey old fart Chuck. He doesn't like anybody moving close to him. He'll tell you a better place to live is Dallas. 
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Hopefully this guy named chuck isn't some of my stepfathers kin. If he has family in Missouri, namely up near Bethel, then he's probably related. May not change things much though. I don't really see anything wrong with a man needing his space.
Has he mined the perimeter of his property? That's usually the order - no trespassing signs, more no trespassing signs, the 'you don't want to go any further' signs followed by the 'no really, you should turn back while you still can' postings and finally then the 'you are entering a minefield'...if they keep going, then that's their choice.....don't mind the occasional explosion, probably just another coyote... |
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Thanks for the welcome. As for the area - the job is in Duncan, but not 100% sure where the wife and I are going to move to yet. Somewhere within 20 min drive of Duncan would be fine with me. She's the picky one when it comes to location/ house. As for the ammunition - just as soon as I can find any I will let you know. That is of course after I get my reserves back up. I always assumed it was the custom to bring gifts to the new neighbor, not the other way around. But hey, I'd be in for helping someone burn through a couple bricks of 22. I live in Duncan and work at Fort Sill. I like Duncan, it is a nice little town. We also have a really nice range just east of town. |
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Just stay away from Loco'  they don't call it that for no reason! Just messin with you some good people there. And good luck finding rental property that is not trashed. Might look into a fixer upper then resale your way up.My hope is to find a house or duplex that is nice. I'm tired of apartment living. We need at least 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and an office space. I would love to have at least a 1 car garage. A basement/storm shelter is also a must for my wife. As far as a fixer upper, I can do a lot of work myself on cosmetic stuff (as long as it's not structural) but I honestly don't know how much free time I will have. Since I'm just now graduating college (started college a bit later than most) I need to get loans and stuff paid off before buying a house. I've been looking in Duncan and Marlow for a place, but it's hard to find much online for rentals. My wife and I are planning on heading down to Duncan the 21-23 of May to find someplace, and I start work on/about June 3rd. |
| I made the same move you did about three years ago. Rental property is available and comparably priced. Properties for purchase are also available but generally more expensive than their MO counterparts, especially if you want acreage. Sales taxes are 1-2% higher but we have no personal property tax so they offset. Winters are generally mild, springs violent and summers downright scorching (but the humidity is way low). Gas is cheaper and we have 100% gas with no ethanol. We are happy we made the move. |
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There's not much within 20 minutes of Duncan. There is a gripey old fart named Chuck that lives fairly close to Duncan. You can tell you are at his place when you see "Do not Trespass" signs every two foot. 
You forgot about the "trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again" signs too.
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Hopefully this guy named chuck isn't some of my stepfathers kin. If he has family in Missouri, namely up near Bethel, then he's probably related. May not change things much though. I don't really see anything wrong with a man needing his space. Has he mined the perimeter of his property? That's usually the order - no trespassing signs, more no trespassing signs, the 'you don't want to go any further' signs followed by the 'no really, you should turn back while you still can' postings and finally then the 'you are entering a minefield'...if they keep going, then that's their choice.....don't mind the occasional explosion, probably just another coyote... No kin (that I'd claim anyway) in Missouri. You forgot the foogas. I loves me some foogas!
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Just stay away from Loco' they don't call it that for no reason! Just messin with you some good people there. And good luck finding rental property that is not trashed. Might look into a fixer upper then resale your way up.My hope is to find a house or duplex that is nice. I'm tired of apartment living. We need at least 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and an office space. I would love to have at least a 1 car garage. A basement/storm shelter is also a must for my wife. As far as a fixer upper, I can do a lot of work myself on cosmetic stuff (as long as it's not structural) but I honestly don't know how much free time I will have. Since I'm just now graduating college (started college a bit later than most) I need to get loans and stuff paid off before buying a house. I've been looking in Duncan and Marlow for a place, but it's hard to find much online for rentals. My wife and I are planning on heading down to Duncan the 21-23 of May to find someplace, and I start work on/about June 3rd. Both Duncan and Marlow are okay. Parts of Duncan are "bad", but really not much of Marlow is. You need to understand something that isn't discussed much, at least not out in the open anyway. Ethnic makeup of the surrounding communities. If you're from a small town in Missouri, I'm guessing you know what I'm refering to. I have black friends(my battle buddy happens to be black), but no way I'd advise him to live in Marlow, Rush Springs, etc. Lots of what Nden likes to refer to as "hickory nuts" there. As far as I know, there are no black families living in those two towns anyway. I could be wrong, not like I go door to door checking these things out . I really have no idea why its like this, just ends up like that, I suppose.
I generally go to Duncan or Chickasha when I go to "town", I try to avoid Lawton like the plague. Theres also Empire and Comanche just south of Duncan, but I dont know much about them. Steve might though. |
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Just stay away from Loco' they don't call it that for no reason! Just messin with you some good people there. And good luck finding rental property that is not trashed. Might look into a fixer upper then resale your way up.My hope is to find a house or duplex that is nice. I'm tired of apartment living. We need at least 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and an office space. I would love to have at least a 1 car garage. A basement/storm shelter is also a must for my wife. As far as a fixer upper, I can do a lot of work myself on cosmetic stuff (as long as it's not structural) but I honestly don't know how much free time I will have. Since I'm just now graduating college (started college a bit later than most) I need to get loans and stuff paid off before buying a house. I've been looking in Duncan and Marlow for a place, but it's hard to find much online for rentals. My wife and I are planning on heading down to Duncan the 21-23 of May to find someplace, and I start work on/about June 3rd. Both Duncan and Marlow are okay. Parts of Duncan are "bad", but really not much of Marlow is. You need to understand something that isn't discussed much, at least not out in the open anyway. Ethnic makeup of the surrounding communities. If you're from a small town in Missouri, I'm guessing you know what I'm refering to. I have black friends(my battle buddy happens to be black), but no way I'd advise him to live in Marlow, Rush Springs, etc. Lots of what Nden likes to refer to as "hickory nuts" there. As far as I know, there are no black families living in those two towns anyway. I could be wrong, not like I go door to door checking these things out . I really have no idea why its like this, just ends up like that, I suppose.
I generally go to Duncan or Chickasha when I go to "town", I try to avoid Lawton like the plague. Theres also Empire and Comanche just south of Duncan, but I dont know much about them. Steve might though.
Chuck........that is in the "southern" part of the state. norman was much the same way when I was a kid; if you weren't white you were pretty much looked down upon; although indians had it much better than the other "minorities" in the community. I can recall blacks that went to the university coming into the barber shop for hair cuts being told by the barbers that their clippers wouldn't cut their hair that they needed to go to the shop on elm street because that shop could cut their hair. |
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That's kind of what I'm hearing a lot about Lawton - stay away. Hopefully my wife will be able to find work in Duncan and not have to go to Lawton.
As for the ethnic diversity (or lack thereof) - I understand what you are getting at. There are a few small towns back home (North east Missouri) that are the same way, although it maybe worse because there's no Latino or Native American populations either. I think this is pretty common problem with rural communities anywhere in the Midwest. I recall that at my high school there were three African American students in my class, and they all came from the largest town in the school district (there were three main towns that made up the school district, plus all the other farm kids). The smallest town in the district was one of those small towns I mentioned earlier. Honestly, where I live now (Rolla, MO) the biggest problem (as far as good/bad parts of town) is meth (and other drugs) & the people addicted to them. The majority those people are white. Otherwise Rolla has a pretty large diversity of people, being a college town and 30 miles from Ft Leonard Wood. I'll take into mind Comanche and Empire. That gives me 4 towns to look into. Maybe I can get a copy of the local newspapers somehow and check the classifieds there. The online editions are lacking a bit. |
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Hopefully this guy named chuck isn't some of my stepfathers kin. If he has family in Missouri, namely up near Bethel, then he's probably related. May not change things much though. I don't really see anything wrong with a man needing his space. Has he mined the perimeter of his property? That's usually the order - no trespassing signs, more no trespassing signs, the 'you don't want to go any further' signs followed by the 'no really, you should turn back while you still can' postings and finally then the 'you are entering a minefield'...if they keep going, then that's their choice.....don't mind the occasional explosion, probably just another coyote... No kin (that I'd claim anyway) in Missouri. You forgot the foogas. I loves me some foogas! What is a "fooga"?? *hugs!* lol |
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Hopefully this guy named chuck isn't some of my stepfathers kin. If he has family in Missouri, namely up near Bethel, then he's probably related. May not change things much though. I don't really see anything wrong with a man needing his space. Has he mined the perimeter of his property? That's usually the order - no trespassing signs, more no trespassing signs, the 'you don't want to go any further' signs followed by the 'no really, you should turn back while you still can' postings and finally then the 'you are entering a minefield'...if they keep going, then that's their choice.....don't mind the occasional explosion, probably just another coyote... No kin (that I'd claim anyway) in Missouri. You forgot the foogas. I loves me some foogas! What is a "fooga"?? *hugs!* lol shit that ignites and burns attackers up in the wire; I've also heard it's used to burn shitters too
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That's kind of what I'm hearing a lot about Lawton - stay away. Hopefully my wife will be able to find work in Duncan and not have to go to Lawton. As for the ethnic diversity (or lack thereof) - I understand what you are getting at. There are a few small towns back home (North east Missouri) that are the same way, although it maybe worse because there's no Latino or Native American populations either. I think this is pretty common problem with rural communities anywhere in the Midwest. I recall that at my high school there were three African American students in my class, and they all came from the largest town in the school district (there were three main towns that made up the school district, plus all the other farm kids). The smallest town in the district was one of those small towns I mentioned earlier. Honestly, where I live now (Rolla, MO) the biggest problem (as far as good/bad parts of town) is meth (and other drugs) & the people addicted to them. The majority those people are white. Otherwise Rolla has a pretty large diversity of people, being a college town and 30 miles from Ft Leonard Wood. I'll take into mind Comanche and Empire. That gives me 4 towns to look into. Maybe I can get a copy of the local newspapers somehow and check the classifieds there. The online editions are lacking a bit. There isn't much in either Empire or Comanche, both are very small towns (population of Empire is under 1000 and Comanche is under 1700). My BIL/SIL live in Comanche and they always have to come to Duncan to do any shopping. |
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Hopefully this guy named chuck isn't some of my stepfathers kin. If he has family in Missouri, namely up near Bethel, then he's probably related. May not change things much though. I don't really see anything wrong with a man needing his space. Has he mined the perimeter of his property? That's usually the order - no trespassing signs, more no trespassing signs, the 'you don't want to go any further' signs followed by the 'no really, you should turn back while you still can' postings and finally then the 'you are entering a minefield'...if they keep going, then that's their choice.....don't mind the occasional explosion, probably just another coyote... No kin (that I'd claim anyway) in Missouri. You forgot the foogas. I loves me some foogas! What is a "fooga"?? *hugs!* lol My understanding is that it's a kind of incendiary that they used starting in WW2, and continuing to Korea and Vietnam to disable tanks and the like. Basically a barrel of fuel/oil mix with a charge underneath it to blow it all over an area and kill whatever is inside the area. Worked on tanks and mechanized vehicles by starving the engine of oxygen. Worked on soft targets by being, well, fire. |
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That's kind of what I'm hearing a lot about Lawton - stay away. Hopefully my wife will be able to find work in Duncan and not have to go to Lawton. As for the ethnic diversity (or lack thereof) - I understand what you are getting at. There are a few small towns back home (North east Missouri) that are the same way, although it maybe worse because there's no Latino or Native American populations either. I think this is pretty common problem with rural communities anywhere in the Midwest. I recall that at my high school there were three African American students in my class, and they all came from the largest town in the school district (there were three main towns that made up the school district, plus all the other farm kids). The smallest town in the district was one of those small towns I mentioned earlier. Honestly, where I live now (Rolla, MO) the biggest problem (as far as good/bad parts of town) is meth (and other drugs) & the people addicted to them. The majority those people are white. Otherwise Rolla has a pretty large diversity of people, being a college town and 30 miles from Ft Leonard Wood. I'll take into mind Comanche and Empire. That gives me 4 towns to look into. Maybe I can get a copy of the local newspapers somehow and check the classifieds there. The online editions are lacking a bit. I was RPD 983 from 1990-1994. Welcome to OK! |
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To those living in/around Duncan and have any experience with rentals there - I have a list of potential rental properties from the ok-duncan.com website; As I don't know a lot about the good areas in Duncan and the not so good areas - what would be good properties/neigherborhoods to be in? Or if it is easier - where should I stay away from?
Like I said earlier, the wife and I would really like a Duplex or house + garage - we are tired of the apartment life. I'm going to be hitting the phones today, but wanted some peoples opinions on where is good/not good. |
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To those living in/around Duncan and have any experience with rentals there - I have a list of potential rental properties from the ok-duncan.com website; As I don't know a lot about the good areas in Duncan and the not so good areas - what would be good properties/neigherborhoods to be in? Or if it is easier - where should I stay away from? Like I said earlier, the wife and I would really like a Duplex or house + garage - we are tired of the apartment life. I'm going to be hitting the phones today, but wanted some peoples opinions on where is good/not good. The further north you go in town, the better off you will be. |
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The further north you go in town, the better off you will be. Thanks. How is the west side of town? I keep running across stuff on 27th and that surrounding area. Also - how common are basements in the Duncan area? Around here in Rolla they aren't super common because they hit rock pretty quick (being in the Ozarks and all) but back home in NE Missouri (near Hannibal) they are much more common. If I could find a 2 bedroom 2 bath with a finished basement, that would be pretty good as well. I just need some area for an "office/man cave" that isn't the garage. |
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The further north you go in town, the better off you will be. Thanks. How is the west side of town? I keep running across stuff on 27th and that surrounding area. Also - how common are basements in the Duncan area? Around here in Rolla they aren't super common because they hit rock pretty quick (being in the Ozarks and all) but back home in NE Missouri (near Hannibal) they are much more common. If I could find a 2 bedroom 2 bath with a finished basement, that would be pretty good as well. I just need some area for an "office/man cave" that isn't the garage. On 27th the houses south of Beech are a little dated, but it is not a bad area. As far as basements, there are not very many, just a lot of storm shelters. There is a house about 300 yards from mine for sale that has a basement, but it is 3500 sq/ft with an in-ground pool and they want about $350,000 for it so it may be out of your price range. |
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only one I ever seen was in norman; it was full of water.
there are a couple of business in norman that have basements; one is the old lockhart hotel at main and university; it's been converted to an office building and then there is the old "basement" club at lindsay & jinkins. don't know if that place is still in business or not; it's been under a bunch of different management. |
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Well it's high time for an update.
My wife and I got back from Duncan yesterday after looking for a place to live. Found out that Duncan is pretty hit or miss and that it is a buyers market, not a renters market - tons of stuff for sale, but not much for rent. That being said, we got lucky and found a townhouse on the northwest side of town that was exactly what we were looking for - 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, large driveway (for when people come over for bbq) and a nice walk in closet that is built as a safe room. Since we couldn't find a basement anywhere this was the only place with any sort of shelter from storms. The gentleman who we spoke with said it was rated for EF5 - but I think that's may just be projectiles from an EF5, not a direct hit. I hope to never have to find out. Anyway - we will be moving the first week of June. The townhouse is available the 5th, and I pushed back my start date at Halliburton to the 10th. Looking forward to getting the move done. |
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Well it's high time for an update. My wife and I got back from Duncan yesterday after looking for a place to live. Found out that Duncan is pretty hit or miss and that it is a buyers market, not a renters market - tons of stuff for sale, but not much for rent. That being said, we got lucky and found a townhouse on the northwest side of town that was exactly what we were looking for - 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, large driveway (for when people come over for bbq) and a nice walk in closet that is built as a safe room. Since we couldn't find a basement anywhere this was the only place with any sort of shelter from storms. The gentleman who we spoke with said it was rated for EF5 - but I think that's may just be projectiles from an EF5, not a direct hit. I hope to never have to find out. Anyway - we will be moving the first week of June. The townhouse is available the 5th, and I pushed back my start date at Halliburton to the 10th. Looking forward to getting the move done. What is the name of the townhouse neighborhood? If it is Paloma Heights, I am good friends with the doctor who owns them. |
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What is the name of the townhouse neighborhood? If it is Paloma Heights, I am good friends with the doctor who owns them. That is where it is. I did not meet the owner, but was informed that it was a doctor who owns them and lives in one of the units. We met with Jim Allen, which I guess is pretty well known around town. Several of the places that I called about places didn't have anything but suggested him, so that's good by me. Seemed like a really good guy and we are happy with the place. |
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What is the name of the townhouse neighborhood? If it is Paloma Heights, I am good friends with the doctor who owns them. That is where it is. I did not meet the owner, but was informed that it was a doctor who owns them and lives in one of the units. We met with Jim Allen, which I guess is pretty well known around town. Several of the places that I called about places didn't have anything but suggested him, so that's good by me. Seemed like a really good guy and we are happy with the place. Yes, Oscar (the Doctor) lives in the first circle in the NE corner. You can tell when he is home since his cherry red Ford F150 sticks out of the garage. |